Ottawa Lake family thanks Apple Watch following crash at busy intersection

OTTAWA LAKE, Mich. — Hunter Sanner was left in a daze, following a car accident in Ottawa Lake in early October.

The volunteer firefighter and father of two was heading south on Clark Road, when he hit another car crossing Sterns.

He says he had the right away, but the young driver didn't see him.

"She came to a complete stop and then she pulled out in front of me and then I t-boned her," Sanner explained. "Kind of delirious, didn't know if I was okay, if she was okay, because the airbags went off, and I couldn't see anything outside the car."

When the cars made impact, airbags deployed, and Sanner's phone went flying.

Sanner was able to reach for his Apple Watch, and enable the SOS feature.

"If you hold the side button in, the option for an SOS comes up...And what that did was it sent out a text to Laurel and my family, all of my emergency contacts I had designated in my phone...That I was in an emergency, and it sent them my exact location of where I was at," Sanner said.

As part of the SOS, his watch dialed 911.

First responders showed up in minutes. Hunter's wife Laurel, was just behind them.

"My mind was racing. I didn't know exactly what had happened, but it was amazing, because I knew exactly where he was," Laurel recalled.

Now, they're crediting the smart watch for getting help fast, and encouraging everyone to buy one and enable the SOS feature immediately.

"A lot of people don't know that that is an option, and it's something something very important that could save somebody's life honestly," Sanner said.

Laurel is thankful her husband and the other driver are okay, and without serious injuries.

"Doing a little bit more research on the capability of the products that we have is something that's very important," she said.